1,530 research outputs found
Automated Synthesis of Dynamically Corrected Quantum Gates
We address the problem of constructing dynamically corrected gates for
non-Markovian open quantum systems in settings where limitations on the
available control inputs and/or the presence of control noise make existing
analytical approaches unfeasible. By focusing on the important case of
singlet-triplet electron spin qubits, we show how ideas from optimal control
theory may be used to automate the synthesis of dynamically corrected gates
that simultaneously minimize the system's sensitivity against both decoherence
and control errors. Explicit sequences for effecting robust single-qubit
rotations subject to realistic timing and pulse-shaping constraints are
provided, which can deliver substantially improved gate fidelity for
state-of-the-art experimental capabilities.Comment: 5 pages; further restructure and expansio
Lattice QCD-based equations of state at vanishing net-baryon density
We present realistic equations of state for QCD matter at vanishing
net-baryon density which embed recent lattice QCD results at high temperatures
combined with a hadron resonance gas model in the low-temperature, confined
phase. In the latter, we allow an implementation of partial chemical
equilibrium, in which particle ratios are fixed at the chemical freeze-out, so
that a description closer to the experimental situation is possible. Given the
present uncertainty in the determination of the chemical freeze-out temperature
from first-principle lattice QCD calculations, we consider different values
within the expected range. The corresponding equations of state can be applied
in the hydrodynamic modeling of relativistic heavy-ion collisions at the LHC
and at the highest RHIC beam energies. Suitable parametrizations of our results
as functions of the energy density are also provided.Comment: Updated journal version with refined EoS-parametrization. July 2014.
8 pp. 4 figs. 3 parametrization-tables and weblink Ref. [45
Keplerian Squeezed States and Rydberg Wave Packets
We construct minimum-uncertainty solutions of the three-dimensional
Schr\"odinger equation with a Coulomb potential. These wave packets are
localized in radial and angular coordinates and are squeezed states in three
dimensions. They move on elliptical keplerian trajectories and are appropriate
for the description of the corresponding Rydberg wave packets, the production
of which is the focus of current experimental effort. We extend our analysis to
incorporate the effects of quantum defects in alkali-metal atoms, which are
used in experiments.Comment: accepted for publication in Physical Review
Fluxoid fluctuations in mesoscopic superconducting rings
Rings are a model system for studying phase coherence in one dimension.
Superconducting rings have states with uniform phase windings that are integer
multiples of 2 called fluxoid states. When the energy difference between
these fluxoid states is of order the temperature so that phase slips are
energetically accessible, several states contribute to the ring's magnetic
response to a flux threading the ring in thermal equilibrium and cause a
suppression or downturn in the ring's magnetic susceptibility as a function of
temperature. We review the theoretical framework for superconducting
fluctuations in rings including a model developed by Koshnick which
includes only fluctuations in the ring's phase winding number called fluxoid
fluctuations and a complete model by von Oppen and Riedel that includes all
thermal fluctuations in the Ginzburg-Landau framework. We show that for
sufficiently narrow and dirty rings the two models predict a similar
susceptibility response with a slightly shifted Tc indicating that fluxoid
fluctuations are dominant. Finally we present magnetic susceptibility data for
rings with different physical parameters which demonstrate the applicability of
our models. The susceptibility data spans a region in temperature where the
ring transitions from a hysteretic to a non hysteretic response to a periodic
applied magnetic field. The magnetic susceptibility data, taken where
transitions between fluxoid states are slow compared to the measurement time
scale and the ring response was hysteretic, decreases linearly with increasing
temperature resembling a mean field response with no fluctuations. At higher
temperatures where fluctuations begin to play a larger role a crossover occurs
and the non-hysteretic data shows a fluxoid fluctuation induced suppression of
diamagnetism below the mean field response that agrees well with the models
What Can We Learn from Nighttime Lights for Small Geographies? Measurement Errors and Heterogeneous Elasticities
Nighttime lights are routinely used as a proxy for economic activity when official statistics are unavailable and are increasingly applied to study the effects of shocks or policy interventions at small geographic scales. The implicit assumption is that the ability of nighttime lights to pick up changes in GDP does not depend on local characteristics of the region under investigation or the scale of aggregation. This study uses panel data on regional GDP growth from six countries, and nighttime lights from the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) to investigate potential nonlinearities and measurement errors in the light production function. Our results for high statistical capacity countries (the United States and Germany) show that nightlights are significantly less responsive to changes in GDP at higher baseline level of GDP, higher population densities, and for agricultural GDP. We provide evidence that these nonlinearities are too large to be caused by differences in measurement errors across regions. We find similar but noisier relationships in other high-income countries (Italy and Spain) and emerging economies (Brazil and China). We also present results for different aggregation schemes and find that the overall relationship, including the nonlinearity, is stable across regions of different shapes and sizes but becomes noisier when regions become few and large. These findings have important implications for studies using nighttime lights to evaluate the economic effects of shocks or policy interventions. On average, nighttime lights pick up changes in GDP across many different levels of aggregation, down to relatively small geographies. However, the nonlinearity we document in this paper implies that some studies may fail to detect policy-relevant effects in places where lights react little to changes in economic activity or they may mistakenly attribute this heterogeneity to the treatment effect of their independent variable of interest
Edge-Magnetoplasmon Wave-Packet Revivals in the Quantum Hall Effect
The quantum Hall effect is necessarily accompanied by low-energy excitations
localized at the edge of a two-dimensional electron system. For the case of
electrons interacting via the long-range Coulomb interaction, these excitations
are edge magnetoplasmons. We address the time evolution of localized
edge-magnetoplasmon wave packets. On short times the wave packets move along
the edge with classical E cross B drift. We show that on longer times the wave
packets can have properties similar to those of the Rydberg wave packets that
are produced in atoms using short-pulsed lasers. In particular, we show that
edge-magnetoplasmon wave packets can exhibit periodic revivals in which a
dispersed wave packet reassembles into a localized one. We propose the study of
edge-magnetoplasmon wave packets as a tool to investigate dynamical properties
of integer and fractional quantum-Hall edges. Various scenarios are discussed
for preparing the initial wave packet and for detecting it at a later time. We
comment on the importance of magnetoplasmon-phonon coupling and on quantum and
thermal fluctuations.Comment: 18 pages, RevTex, 7 figures and 2 tables included, Fig. 5 was
originally 3Mbyte and had to be bitmapped for submission to archive; in the
process it acquired distracting artifacts, to upload the better version, see
http://physics.indiana.edu/~uli/publ/projects.htm
Fluctuation Superconductivity in Mesoscopic Aluminum Rings
Fluctuations are important near phase transitions, where they can be
difficult to describe quantitatively. Superconductivity in mesoscopic rings is
particularly intriguing because the critical temperature is an oscillatory
function of magnetic field. There is an exact theory for thermal fluctuations
in one-dimensional superconducting rings, which are therefore expected to be an
excellent model system. We measure the susceptibility of many rings, one ring
at a time, using a scanning SQUID that can isolate magnetic signals from seven
orders of magnitude larger background applied flux. We find that the
fluctuation theory describes the results and that a single parameter
characterizes the ways in which the fluctuations are especially important at
magnetic fields where the critical temperature is suppressed.Comment: Reprinted with permission from AAA
Persistent currents in normal metal rings
The authors have measured the magnetic response of 33 individual cold
mesoscopic gold rings, one ring at a time. The response of some sufficiently
small rings has a component that is periodic in the flux through the ring and
is attributed to a persistent current. Its period is close to h/e, and its sign
and amplitude vary between rings. The amplitude distribution agrees well with
predictions for the typical h/e current in diffusive rings. The temperature
dependence of the amplitude, measured for four rings, is also consistent with
theory. These results disagree with previous measurements of three individual
metal rings that showed a much larger periodic response than expected. The use
of a scanning SQUID microscope enabled in situ measurements of the sensor
background. A paramagnetic linear susceptibility and a poorly understood
anomaly around zero field are attributed to defect spins.Comment: Journal version. 4+ pages, 3 figures. See
http://stanford.edu/group/moler/publications.html for the auxiliary document
containing additional data and discussion (Ref. 29). Changes w.r.t. v1:
Clarified some details in introduction and regarding experimental procedures,
shortened abstract, added references and fixed some typo
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